Called by Name - Answered by Choice

John Wesley Covenant Service January 13, 2013 Isaiah 43:1-7 Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 “Called by Name, Answered by Choice” Year C Baptism of the Lord Leighton Farrell was the minister of Highland Park Church in Dallas for many years. He tells of a man in the church who once made a covenant with a former pastor to tithe ten percent of their income every year. They were both young and neither of them had much money. But things changed. The layman tithed one thousand dollars the year he earned ten thousand, ten thousand dollars the year he earned one-hundred thousand, and one- hundred thousand dollars the year he earned one million. But the year he earned six million dollars he just could not bring himself to write out that check for six-hundred thousand dollars to the Church. He telephoned the minister, long since having moved to another church, and asked to see him. Walking into the pastor’s office the man begged to be let out of the covenant, saying, "This tithing business has to stop. It was fine when my tithe was one thousand dollars, but I just cannot afford six-hundred thousand dollars. You¡¦ve got to do something, Reverend!" The pastor knelt on the floor and prayed silently for a long time. Eventually the man said, "What are you doing? Are you praying that God will let me out of the covenant to tithe?" "No," said the minister. "I am praying for God to reduce your income back to the level where one thousand dollars will be your tithe!" This is not a sermon about tithing, it is story about moving forward. We should always seek to move forward in our faith, and not backward. Today, as we celebrate covenant Sunday – it is tome for us to move forward in God. A covenant service is time for us to think seriously about our relationship with God. As you begin the new year, I want you to think about what needs to happen in your life in the coming year. What call does God have in your life. What has that little voice inside of you been telling you? What visions of the future do you have? How will you need God to get through this year? Yesterday, Our new member, Ken reminded me that whenever someone felt they were on a mission from God, they had to take a vow. In order to take a vow, they needed to have a time of preparation. There needed to be a time of prayer, fasting and study. You needed to set aside some time in your life to really listen to God in your life. As we follow the life of Jesus, we will go through his time of preparation. And it all starts with his baptism. We may ask, why would Jesus need to be baptized if he was not a sinner. He knew that was the beginning of his public journey. People needed to see that he was on a journey. When we hear God’s voice in our heads, there is always an outward sign for us to see what is inside. The voice inside leads us – but God takes a chance to publicly acknowledge what he is saying to us. 1 Corinthians – many gifts once spirit – we have heard that many times. God is speaking to the community not the person. Spiritual gifts are an outward sign that the holy spirit is present. How do we know that it is God that is really calling us? We look for signs of the Spirit in our midst. That little voice inside of us turns into action. We start to live. Signs of death are all around us – now it is time for us to look for signs of the Holy spirit. It is time to acknowledge those signs, to answer that call, to take a vow. A young boy by the name of James had a desire to be the most famous manufacturer and salesman of cheese in the world. He planned on becoming rich and famous by making and selling cheese and began with a little buggy pulled by a pony named Paddy. After making his cheese, he would load his wagon and he and Paddy would drive down the streets of Chicago to sell the cheese. As the months passed, the young boy began to despair because he was not making any money, in spite of his long hours and hard work. One day he pulled his pony to a stop and began to talk to him. He said, "Paddy, there is something wrong. We are not doing it right. I am afraid we have things turned around and our priorities are not where they ought to be. Maybe we ought to serve God and place him first in our lives." The boy drove home and made a covenant that for the rest of his life he would first serve God and then would work as God directed. Many years after this, the young boy, now a man, stood as Sunday School Superintendent at North Shore Baptist Church in Chicago and said, "I would rather be a layman in the North Shore Baptist Church than to head the greatest corporation in America. My first job is serving Jesus." So, every time you take a take a bite of Philadelphia Cream cheese, sip a cup of Maxwell House, mix a quart of Kool-Aid, slice up a DiGiorno Pizza, cook a pot of Macaroni & Cheese, spread some Grey Poupon, stir a bowl of Cream of Wheat, slurp down some Jell-O, eat the cream out of the middle of an Oreo cookie, or serve some Stove Top, remember a boy, his pony named Paddy, and the promise little James L. Kraft made to serve God and work as He directed. Adapted by Brett Blair from Michael Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, Baker, p. 331. James Kraft started to put God first in his life. He put God in all parts of his life and in his goals. He gave his total life to God…time, money, feelings, needs. THE COVENANTS Eternal covenant, Heb 13:20—The redemptive covenant before time began, between the Father and the Son. By this covenant we have eternal redemption, an eternal peace from the ‘God of peace’, through the death and resurrection of the Son. Edenic covenant, Gen 1:26-28—The creative covenant between the Triune God, as the first party (Gen 1:26), and newly created man, as the second party, governing man’s creation and life in Edenic innocence. It regulated man’s dominion and subjugation of the earth, and presented a simple test of obedience. The penalty was death. Adamic covenant, Gen 3:14-19—The covenant conditioning fallen man’s life on the earth. Satan’s tool (the serpent) was cursed (Gen 3:14); the first promise of the Redeemer was given (3:15); women’s status was altered (3:16); the earth was cursed (3:17-19); physical and spiritual death resulted (3:19). Noahic covenant, Gen 8:20-9:6—The covenant of human government. Man is to govern his fellowmen for God, indicated by the institution of capital punishment as the supreme judicial power of the state (Gen 9:5-6). Other features included the promise of redemption through the line of Shem (9:26). Abrahamic covenant, Gen 12:1-3; confirmed, 13:14-17; 15:1-7; 17:1-8—The covenant of promise. Abraham’s posterity was to be made a great nation. In him (through Christ) all the families of the earth were to be blessed (Gal 3:16; Jn 8:56-58). Mosaic covenant, Ex 20:1-31:18—The legal covenant, given solely to Israel. It consisted of the commandments (Ex 20:1-26); the judgments (social) - (Ex 21:1; 24:11) and the ordinances (religious); (Ex 24:12-31:18); also called the law. Mosaic covenant, Ex 20:1-31:18—The legal covenant, given solely to Israel. It consisted of the commandments (Ex 20:1-26); the judgments (social) - (Ex 21:1; 24:11) and the ordinances (religious); (Ex 24:12-31:18); also called the law. It was a conditional covenant of works, a ministry of ‘condemnation’ and ‘death’ (2 Cor 3:7-9), designed to lead the transgressor (convicted thereby as a sinner) to Christ. Palestinian covenant, Deut 30:1-10—The covenant regulating Israel’s tenure of the land of Canaan. Its prophetic features include dispersion of disobedience (Deut 30:1), future repentance while in dispersion (30:2), the Lord’s return (30:3), the restoration (30:4-5), national conversion (3:6), judgment of Israel’s foes (30:7), national prosperity (30:9). Its blessings are conditioned upon obedience (30:8, 10), but fulfillment is guaranteed by the new covenant. Davidic covenant, 2 Sam 7:4-17, 1 Chr 17:4-15—The kingdom covenant regulating the temporal and eternal rule of David’s posterity. It secures in perpetuity a Davidic ‘house’ or line, a throne, and a kingdom. It was confirmed by divine oath in Ps 89:30-37 and renewed to Mary in Lk 1:31-33. It is fulfilled in Christ as the World’s Saviour and Israel’s coming King (Acts 1:6; Rev 19:16; 20:4-6). New covenant, Jer 31:31-33; Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20; Heb 8:8-12—The covenant of unconditional blessing based upon the finished redemption of Christ. It secures blessing for the church, flowing from the Abrahamic covenant (Gal 3:13-20), and secures all covenant blessings to converted Israel, including those of the Abrahamic, Palestinian, and Davidic covenants. This covenant is unconditional, final and irreversible. The whole bible is the story of covenant. God’s promise to you is to be with you in this moment. He is leading out destiny. Destiny is to be with god eternally. Every year- John Wesley invited us to take this covenant. The covenant it private. But it is also public. We are the people of the covenant – when we all make that covenant – we can support one another and be used by God. This will be the year of stewardship – how do we give our total lives to God? Today we are preparing ourselves to be prepared. You may think that we just got done with a time of preparation. When are we ever ready? All of life is a preparation if you are moving forward. Wheverever you are- you need to go farther. All of life is a preparation for something. Once a Baptist joined a Methodist church – and her Baptist friends started to say to that she was not baptized because she was sprinkled with a little bit of water. The Methodist pastor asked her – one person is married and she get a 2 carat ring, and another is married and she has a ¼ carat ring. Just because one has a bigger ring does that mean she is more married? A ring is an outward sign of an inward promise. Baptism is also an outward sign of an inward grace. It is not about how much water – it is about God’s love. I tell that story however because John Wesley believed that no matter how good we are, we sin every day – we need to take communion every day. The same is with our promise to God. we do it every year, because every year we need to make a new covenant with God. Amen…….